


Marriage Skills

by SonnyD



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Anniversary, Established Relationship, M/M, Marriage, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 09:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17322194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonnyD/pseuds/SonnyD
Summary: And just like that, Sam’s blissful little bubble was popped. He frowned, wondering if his husband was really that forgetful but Bucky seemed genuinely confused. Even after so many hours, he still hadn’t remembered about their anniversary. Sam didn’t know whether to cry or scream in frustration. He settled for giving the other man an unamused stare.“You’re joking, right?”Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed, “What?”“You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”Bucky's expression turned sheepish and Sam only sighed as he closed his eyes once again.》|《 | 》|《 | 》|《Being married wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Sam and Bucky made it work, however, and they were happy. No mistakes there. Unfortunately for Bucky, he somehow managed to forget his anniversary.





	Marriage Skills

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Here's another fic. I'm not so sure about the title or summary but alas, it was the best I could come up with. I hope you'll like it.

Sam woke up in an unusually good mood. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t exactly the very definition of a morning person. However, that morning was special. He glanced over at his husband, the other man’s sheet covered figure rising and falling gently as he slept. Sam watched him for a moment, a gentle smile spreading across his face. He almost couldn’t believe it. They had been married for one year and what a wonderful year it was. It hadn’t been easy by any means but all the petty moments and tribulations were worth it just to spend the rest of his life with the one who captured his heart.

He glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand and figured he had enough time to get ready then make breakfast before Bucky woke up. He did just that, going through his morning routine with a slight skip in his step. He decided to go all out for breakfast. It was a special occasion and anything that wasn’t eaten could just be saved as leftovers. He was just scrambling the last egg when a pair of muscular arms wound themselves around his waist. A kiss was pressed against his neck before a strong chin rested on his shoulder.

“Mornin’.”

Sam smiled, “Good morning.”

“That’s a lot of food.”

“I know. I did make it, after all.”

“Someone’s happy today.”

“Well, it’s a good day.”

Sam moved to put the eggs on a plate, Bucky following along as he was still pressed against his back. He finally turned around and planted a kiss on his husband’s lips, unsurprised when he was pulled back into a longer one. He practically melted in Bucky’s arms, a soft moan escaping his lips. They eventually pulled away with Sam playfully nipping the other man’s bottom lip.

Bucky groaned, “Gosh, I love you.”

Sam chuckled and pecked his lips one last time.

“I love you too.”

Bucky squeezed his hips once before stepping away to get a plate. They ate in silence – well, Bucky ate as Sam watched, his face plastered with a loving expression. Bucky soon realized that he was the only one eating and looked up at his husband, confused.

“What?” he asked, his mouth still full of food. Sam wasn’t perturbed as he sighed almost dreamily.

“Nothing. Just admiring the view.”

Bucky frowned, swallowing before he answered, “Oh. Okay.”

Sam only chuckled at his confusion before he started to eat as well. When they finished, he stood up to collect the plates off the table but was stopped when a hand snaked around his wrist.

“It’s okay. I’ll do it,” Bucky said.

“But-”

“It’s only fair since you cooked.”

“Well, when you put it like that...”

Bucky smiled and took Sam’s empty plate from his hands before he began to take up the others. He carried them to the sink as his husband watched him for a moment before going upstairs. Sam couldn’t help but smile as he entered their bedroom. Most people thought that Bucky was an emotionless shell of a human being, when in reality, he wasn’t like that at all. It was just a defence mechanism. He was actually one of the sweetest, most charming persons that Sam had ever met and he was glad that he had taken the time to get to know the other man instead of just judging him from a cursory glance.

Sam shook himself out of his thoughts before getting started on his morning chores. He was just about finished by the time Bucky walked in. Sam stared at him from his seat on the bed as the other man got ready to take a shower.

“Do you need to go to work?”

Bucky chuckled, his back turned to Sam as he trifled through the closet.

“I do, yeah.”

“You sure about that? Cause you can just stay here with me,” Sam offered.

Bucky turned to place a dark grey suit on the bed, his eyes flickering up to look at his husband. He went back to the closet to pick out a shirt as he answered.

“I’d love to but I can’t. I’ve got an eleven o’clock meeting with the board that I can’t miss.”

Sam’s lips twitched, almost forming into a frown. An eleven o’clock meeting. That meant that they couldn’t meet up for lunch like he’d wanted.

“What about Steve? Can’t he handle it?”

“He told me that if I missed another meeting, he’d stop bringing me lunch.”

 _‘I can bring you lunch,’_ Sam thought petulantly but didn’t voice it.

“Last chance, Buck.”

“I’m sorry, doll. I want to but I can’t afford to miss the meeting. Besides, one of us has to pay the bills around here,” Bucky teased.

Sam rolled his eyes at the jab, “Real funny, Barnes.”

“I know.”

He then disappeared into the bathroom to get ready, leaving Sam to sulk in silence. He sighed, deciding to go downstairs before his husband eventually came out and he’d be tempted again. He cleaned up the kitchen in the meanwhile, taking care of the mess that Bucky had missed. The said man finally emerged from upstairs some time later as Sam was restocking the water in the fridge.

“Yeah, I know,” he was saying into the phone pressed against his ear, “Yeah…No, I’m coming…Mhm…Oh, sure…Alright, I’ll see you later, punk.”

He hung up, taking his laptop bag off of the couch. Sam approached him as he started to head to the door.

“I know I said last chance earlier but I’d love to spend to the rest of the day with you alone. Preferably in our bed,” he said. He reached up to fix Bucky’s tie as the other man sighed.

“I feel the same way, doll but no can do. You know what Steve is like,” he paused, “I’ll tell you what. Later when we’re both home, we can order in pizza and just have the night to ourselves. That sound good?”

Sam bit his lip in thought. It wasn’t the anniversary dinner he had been hoping for but at least he’d be spending time with Bucky. That was all that mattered.

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too. Cheer up, baby.”

He kissed Sam’s cheek, picked up his keys and turned to leave. But, that wasn’t right...

“Hey, wait,” Sam pulled his arm to tug him back, “That’s it? Just ‘I love you’? Nothing else?”

Bucky raised an eyebrow, “No, why?”

“Never mind. I’ll see you later.”

His husband looked as though he wanted to say something else but refrained from doing so. Instead, he just nodded and left for work. Sam rolled his eyes as he closed the door. He couldn’t believe he had skipped his morning run for this.

* * *

 

Sam came home from work, feeling slightly dejected. Throughout the day, he had received well wishes from his co-workers about his anniversary along with the expected questions. Why was he at work? Shouldn’t he be celebrating? It was a pain to give the same answer every time. He and Bucky had decided to just do something special for dinner. That was all. Sam couldn’t even begin to describe how it felt to realize that his co-workers remembered his wedding anniversary but not his own husband, the man whom he shared said anniversary with.

Maybe a nice bath would do him good. He trudged up the stairs and entered his bedroom, almost immediately stripping himself of his clothes. He threw them into the hamper once inside the bathroom before turning on the tap for the tub. As the bath filled with hot water, he grabbed his favourite bath salts and after a moment’s hesitation, he went downstairs to get a bottle of wine and a glass. Once everything was set up, Sam couldn’t help but sigh as he sunk into the water. He could feel his muscles slowly unwind, tension seeping from his body.

He couldn’t tell how long he stayed there just enjoying the quiet before he felt a hand brush along his jaw. Sam opened his eyes to see his husband kneeling beside the tub. He looked curious – and slightly turned on, Sam noted – as he stared at him. Bucky was still in his suit, seemingly just arriving home.

“Hey, you couldn’t wait for me to get in the mood?” he asked, amused. His fingers stroked Sam’s cheek once again and he barely resisted humming in pleasure.

“Hmm?”

Bucky chuckled, “Well, you’re taking a relaxing bath and you have wine out. The only things missing are some candles and a partner.”

“You offering, James?” Sam murmured.

“I might be. What’s the occasion?”

And just like that, Sam’s blissful little bubble was popped. He frowned, wondering if his husband was really that forgetful but Bucky seemed genuinely confused. Even after so many hours, he still hadn’t remembered about their anniversary. Sam didn’t know whether to cry or scream in frustration. He settled for giving the other man an unamused stare.

“You’re joking, right?”

Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed, “What?”

“You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”

Bucky's expression turned sheepish and Sam only sighed as he closed his eyes once again.

“Sam-”

“It’s fine. Just let me finish and I’ll get started on dinner.”

“…I was wondering if we could order pizza, like we talked about earlier.”

“Whatever you want, Buck.”

It was quiet for a few seconds before Sam heard Bucky getting up and leaving the restroom. He released a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding once the door closed. He sat there collecting his thoughts until the water got too cool for his tastes. It was only then that he finally extracted himself from the tub. Sam got dressed sombrely (if that could be done) before going downstairs.

He found his husband on the couch, tapping away at his phone. Bucky looked up when he entered the room, offering him a hesitant smile. Sam returned the gesture, albeit weakly, choosing to sit on an armchair instead of the couch. He saw Bucky frown out of the corner of his eye but said nothing in acknowledgement.

“I, uh…I ordered the pizza. Pepperoni and mushroom, just how you like it,” Bucky said, sounding unsure. Sam only nodded as he turned his attention towards his phone. He heard his husband sigh but didn’t offer an explanation for his behaviour.

Dinner was a quiet affair, spent with Sam on his phone while Bucky stared at him, trying to figure out a reason for being given the cold shoulder. They got ready for bed in silence and just when Sam was about to turn off his lamp, Bucky held out his hand to stop him.

“Hey, we’re okay?” He swallowed nervously. “Right?”

After a moment of tense silence, Sam nodded once before turning off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. He could sense his husband’s unmoving body still sitting up and only after a long moment did he finally settle down. It was the first time in a long time that they slept facing away from each other.

* * *

 

Bucky had never known Sam to be a pessimistic person. Sure, he had his moments; everyone did, but he was usually upbeat and it was one of the things that Bucky loved about him. However, the next morning proved to be rather difficult. At least, so it was to Bucky. Sam seemed unbothered by the tension between them but Bucky knew that he could feel it too. In fact, Sam was actually contributing to it.

He ignored Bucky’s advances, any usual affection between them being thrown out the window. He got ready methodically and when it was time for Bucky to leave, it was as though his own husband, the very man whom he’d share the rest of his life with, didn’t exist. Bucky went to work, unsure of what to do. He didn’t know what the problem was but he was pretty sure that if he asked, Sam wouldn’t be so open to telling. He went up to his office in a trance and only when he was sitting at his desk did he realize that he had even moved.

“Good morning, Mr. Barnes,” his secretary greeted as she entered. “How was your night?”

“Uh, morning, Alex. It was fine, nothing out of the ordinary,” he lied. Alex laughed as she placed a stack of papers on his desk.

“Sure,” she said with wink as though they’d shared some sort of inside joke. Bucky was afraid he’d missed out on it. “Mr. Greene wanted me to give these to you to check over.”

“Thanks. That’s it?” he asked, turning on his desktop. He began to sort through the papers as he waited.

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright. Thanks, Alex.”

She nodded, her puff bouncing along the movement before she left. Bucky sighed, already feeling the stress of trying to deal with Greene’s contract. He was getting tired of that man. He soon lost himself to work, his marital problems pushed to the back of his mind. That was, until lunch when he went out with Steve. They were walking through the park across from the bistro close to the office when Steve brought it up.

“I’m surprised you came to work yesterday,” he commented.

Bucky frowned, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, I thought you’d be celebrating with Sam,” Steve said, staring at his friend as though he was being odd.

“Celebrating?”

“Yeah. Unless you took him out for dinner afterwards.”

“Uh, no. We just ordered pizza and stayed in,” Bucky replied, confused.

“Oh. Well, whatever makes you two happy, I guess.”

“Steve,” Bucky began as he stopped walking, forcing Steve to halt as well, “why would I need to take Sam out for dinner?”

Steve blinked, his eyebrows furrowing like he was trying to make sense of the simple question. He stared at Bucky for a long moment before his eyes suddenly widened and he took a step back as if he were offended.

“I can’t believe you,” he chided, shaking his head.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“Forgot what?” Bucky shouted, flinging his hands up in exasperation.

“You absolute jerk. You forgot about your anniversary.”

Bucky frowned. Anniversary? What anniver – oh. Oh shit. He forgot about his wedding anniversary! And it was only the first one. How could he have done that? Gosh, he was such an idiot. He wouldn’t be surprised if Sam hated him. Okay, maybe that was too much, but still. At least now he knew why his husband was acting the way he had been the other night and that morning. He would need a plan to get back into Sam’s good graces.

“Steve-”

“No.”

“You didn’t even know what I was going to say!”

“Nothing I haven’t heard before.”

“Oh, fuck you, Steve. Like I needed your help anyway.”

“Yes, you do and you know it.”

Bucky sighed, rolling his eyes. He said nothing though which caused Steve to smile.

“That’s what I thought.”

* * *

 

Sam slowly trudged into the house, prepared for another evening of being disappointed in his husband. He dropped his keys in the bowl beside the door and was about to head to the living room when he realized that he wasn’t alone. The house smelled wonderful like someone was cooking and the surround sound was on. He went to the kitchen and almost smiled when he saw Bucky dancing at the stove. He stood for a moment, waiting until his husband turned around and jumped at the sight of him.

“Sam! Hey, sweetheart,” he greeted, warmly.

“What are you doing?”

Bucky smiled, “Making dinner. We’re going to be having shrimp pasta. I’ll be finished soon.”

Sam made to say something but thought better of it and nodded. He allowed a small smile to slip once he was out of the kitchen. He went upstairs and took a quick shower before returning to kitchen where Bucky was just serving up dinner. He mentally cursed himself when his heart started racing at the other’s man smile. No matter how long they’d been together, Bucky still managed to have that effect on him. He hated it and loved it at the same time.

They sat and ate quietly, the sounds of cutlery against ceramic being the only noise in the room. Unlike the night before, it was a comfortable silence and Sam had to admit that he liked it. He sat back in his chair once he was finished and watched as Bucky stood to collect the plates. He cleared off the table and went to the fridge, coming back with dessert. Sam blinked as he stared down at his plate, having a flash back to five years ago.

It was their first date and Bucky had invited Sam to his apartment for dinner. They had both been nervous but Sam at least tried to mask it. Bucky was a visible tower of nerves, stammering and getting flustered at the slightest touch. It was adorable but Sam decided to ease his obvious fears by revealing that he was a little anxious as well. Bucky had been decidedly calm after that. For dinner they had shrimp pasta which tasted better than Sam had expected. Dessert was the interesting part. Bucky admitted to burning the chocolate cake he had put in the oven earlier that day and had to resort to store bought sugar cookies. Sam had found it funny and in the end, they both had a good laugh over it.

Here he was now in the present looking down at a plate of store bought sugar cookies, exactly like the ones five years ago. It was then that he realized what Bucky was doing. He was recreating their first date. Sam couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“What is it?” Bucky asked, his face expectant.

“I can’t believe you,” Sam said with a smile. “You’re recreating our first date.”

Bucky grinned, “I am. It’s an apology, really, for yesterday. Sammy, I’m so sorry I forgot about our anniversary. I’ve been busy at work lately with the new business deal we’re striking up. It’s no excuse for everything but I’m really hoping that this will make up for it.”

Sam sighed, glancing down to collect his thoughts before looking back at his husband.

“Steve helped with you this, didn’t he?”

Bucky hopeful smile faltered, “How did you know?”

“Because,” Sam started as he stood up, “he’s your best friend. No matter how upset he might be with you, he’d still help you if you asked.”

As he talked, he came closer to Bucky who stood up to meet him halfway.

“I guess it’s just those damn puppy dog eyes you have. They’re irresistible and I’m afraid I’ve fallen for them again,” Sam concluded, staring up at his husband. Bucky smiled and hesitantly leaned down for a kiss. This earned him a roll of the eyes before he was dragged into short but sweet kiss.

“Does this mean I’m forgiven?” he murmured when they had come up for air.

“Maybe.”

Sam grinned mischievously, a smile that never failed to ignite something in Bucky. He kissed his husband again, returning for a second, third and even fourth peck before finally he pulled away. He began to pull Sam out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, happy that he received no protest. One thing was for sure. He’d never forget another anniversary again.


End file.
